Canadian Diamonds

QUEEN VICTORIA

1837 to 1901

Young Head
1858 to 1859

image of young head, 1858 and 1859 type only

The young head Victorian coins struck in 1858 and 1859 are prior to Confederation so are actually British colonial coins issued under the Province of Canada. While nearly everyone, including myself, commonly refers to them as pennies, the proper denomination is a "cent" equal to the American cent and which is equal to the British 1/2 penny. When first introduced they were struck to a standard of 100 coins per pound of bronze rather than the British standard of 80 coins to the pound of bronze. This made the coins unpopular and at first poorly accepted by the public who were used to the British Standards. The designs were by Leonard C. Wyon with the composition of the coins being 95% copper, 4% tin and 1% zinc weighing 4.54 grams at 25.4 mm (1 inch) diameter, with medal alignment. Although very rare, a few 1859's exist with coinage alignment due to a 180 degree die rotation error. There are also a few struck on incorrect brass blanks. Dot cent An ultra-rare Canadian penny has been sold at a U.S. coin auction for more than 25 million times its face value — about $253,000. The 1936 “dot cent” penny is famous in coin-collecting circles as one of only three such specimens known to have been produced that year by the Royal Canadian Mint. They are distinguished from the millions of other 1936 pennies minted in the final year of King George V’s reign by the miniscule dot placed below the date on the “tails” side of the coin. Texas-based Heritage Auctions announced last month that the “legendary Pittman-Krause” dot penny — named for two notable collectors who had owned it previously —  would be offered at this week’s annual international coin sale in Chicago. And on Thursday, an unidentified Canadian collector purchased the penny for close to pre-sale estimate — about $250,000, including a $25,000 buyer’s fee paid to the auction house, a Heritage spokesman told Postmedia News.    Find us on Facebook